The late Queen Elizabeth II’s dresser enjoyed a festive night out with friends this week.
In a rare appearance, Angela Kelly was pictured in front of a beautiful red and gold themed Christmas tree at The Goring hotel in London.
The Liverpool-born fashion designer and dressmaker was joined by her close friends, Paul Mesher and his husband, Michael Atmore, who shared the snap to his Instagram Stories.
Standing in between her two friends, Angela looked elegant in a white blouse and military-style high-waisted black trousers with gold buttons.
Paul previously worked as the late Queen’s personal footman, while Michael is Chief Brand Officer of Fairchild Media and Editorial Director of Footwear News.
The Goring is famously where Kate Middleton spent the eve before her royal wedding to Prince William in April 2011. The luxury Belgravia hotel was granted a Royal Warrant in 2013.
Up until April this year, Angela was residing in a property on the late Queen’s Windsor estate, and revealed in an Instagram post that she was preparing to move to her new home.
Angela and Queen Elizabeth II were very close, with Angela believed to be one of her best friends. The royal fashion designer first began working for the Queen in 1994 before becoming her Personal Assistant and Senior Dresser in 2002.
She was made a Commander of the Victorian Order, along with the late monarch’s trusted Page Paul Whybrew and head groom, Terry Pendry, when Queen Elizabeth II’s Demise Honours List was published in March.
On the first anniversary of Elizabeth II’s death in September, Angela paid tribute in a poignant Instagram post, writing: “I will never forget you. I will always love you. I miss you my friend [heart emoji],” later adding: “I miss her, you will always be in our hearts [heart emoji].”
© GettyAngela shared a fascinating insight into what it was like to work for one of the world’s most famous figures in her book, Dressing the Queen: The Jubilee Wardrobe and The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe, released in 2019, including that she was the aide to break in Her Majesty’s shoes.
Among the royal dresser’s most notable creations is the replica of the original 1841 royal christening gown, which Queen Elizabeth II commissioned Angela to make in 2004. The replica has been worn by a number of royal babies since 2008, including the Prince and Princess of Wales’s three children.
© GettyAngela also created the late Queen’s primrose-yellow coat for Prince William and Kate’s nuptials, and she remodelled the Norman Hartnell dress which Princess Beatrice wore on her wedding day to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2020.
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